"Companies thought it risky to come [and sell] in Estonia and this meant that small producers had work," he says.

Despite the peg there was always the option to devalue if the government wanted to.

The euro also comes with rules designed to limit inflation, which Estonia has struggled with in the past.

With Estonia now the poorest country in the eurozone, some say limiting inflation will limit growth.

And then there are the problems in the eurozone itself.

Posters around Tallinn suggest Estonia has just purchased the last ticket to board the Titanic.

Others compare the new currency to the Soviet-era Russian rouble.

Recent pain

The Minister of Finance, Jurgen Ligi, accepts that inflation is inevitable if Estonia is to catch up. The country's economic growth rate has accelerated of late and the government forecasts around 4% in the next year.

"We can't really avoid a little bit of inflation", he admits, "but at the same time we are much more experienced after the crisis and such a consumption and loan boom can't happen again."

Indeed, Estonia suffered as much as anyone, seeing its GDP fall by 14% from its peak.

Despite that, the government refused to devalue the currency.

Mr Ligi believes that as most of Estonia's exports also relied on imports it would have had little benefit.

But he accepts his new currency is in need of work - even adopting the boat metaphor favoured by his opponents.

"For us you have to understand there is no fleet on the sea, we have only one boat, we have to try and make it better and if it sinks, it sinks anyway. But we have all the knowledge how to avoid it."

'Start-up country'

Across town from Mr Ligi's Soviet-era ministerial building sits the rather more laid back home of Skype, the internet telecoms company.

The company was founded in Estonia, and maintains its largest office here with more than 400 staff.

Their general manager in Estonia, Sten Tankivi, says he thought the change would be mostly psychological - convincing investors that Estonia is indeed a safe country in which to invest.

Skype is Estonia's most famous start up, but it is by no means the only one.

As the economy has recovered in the last year, the country has once again started winning awards for its new IT firms.

This is why Mr Tankivi shares his finance minister's optimism about his country and its abilities.

"Estonia as a country is a start-up," he says.

"There are no limits. You can achieve anything and make things happen.